Portable communication devices such as cellular phones come in many shapes and designs, and with different surface ornamentation. There are various types of cellular phone, some with a fixed outer housing and some with relatively movable parts. Cellular phones commonly referred to as having a “candybar” configuration have a single rectangular outer housing, with the screen and keypad always exposed. Another configuration commonly referred to as having a “clamshell” or flip phone configuration has a base on which the keypad is provided and a hinged cover or “flip” for covering the keypad when the phone is not in use, with the earpiece and user display screen being provided in the flip and linked to a main printed circuit board in the base by a flex connector. A slide phone has a slide member which covers the keypad when not in use, leaving the user display screen exposed. The slide member slides down to reveal the keypad when the user wishes to make a call.
Candybar style portable phones have been provided with removable outer housing covers or face plates which are detachably secured to the body of the phone and which can be used to change the color or graphics on the phone housing. However, these still typically leave part of the body of the phone exposed and cannot entirely modify the external appearance of the phone or the keypad. The shape and dimensions of such covers are typically constrained by the shape and dimensions of the particular phone body to which they are to be secured. Thus, each new phone model requires a new set of removable covers which will work only with that phone model. There is currently no removable cover option for cell phones with housings having relatively movable parts, such as clamshell phones. This means that each new phone design must go through extensive design verification testing, even if the only changes are in outer housing shape or keypad design.